Bottle dispensing machine



April l, 1941.

c. c. KUHL i BOTTLE DISPENSING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Aug. 5, 1939 n l l f l l f l f f l 1 l l l f 1 l n n l l l Y INVENTOR CHARLES C um.

ATroRNEYS.

April l, 1941. c, c, KUHL BOTTLE nrsrsusme MACHINE n Filed Aug. 3, 1939 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 l/llll/ll/lllll/lll/lllllll/ INVENTOR. CHARLES C //f/L'.

mi www@ ATTORNEYSZ April 1, 1941. c. c. KUHL BOTTLE DISPENSING MACHINE Filed A'ug. 5, 1939 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 INV ENTOR. CHARLES C. Ku/

Patented Apr. 1, 1941 UNITED sTATEs PATENT oFFicE BOTTLE DISPENSING MACHINE Charles C. Kuhl, South Bend, Ind.

Application August 3, 1939, Serial N0. 288,101

(Cl. S12-88) 13 Claims.

This invention relates to dispensing machines, and more particularly to coin controlled machines for dispensing beverage bottles. However, various types of articles may be dispensed thereby.

'I'he primary object of this invention is to provide a dispensing machine which is simple and sturdy in construction, and positive and nonjamming in operation.

A further object is to provide a device of this character in which bottles are held in operative position for feeding at all times and under all conditions of use, and are not displaced or jammed by rough handling.

A further object is to provide a device of this character with means to positively prevent feeding or discharge of more than one bottle for each operation.

A further object is to provide a device of this character having a reel rotatable on an inclined axis and divided byradial partitionsinto a plurality of compartments each receiving a plurality of bottles and provided with bottle positioning means.

A further object is to provide a device of this character including a rotatable reel having elongated inclined compartments provided with longitudinal guide projections therein adapted to be engaged by a reduced diameter portion of bot- Y tles in said compartments to properly position said bottles in said compartments.

Another object is to provide a device of this character with means operable when the machine is empty for rendering the same inoperative.

Other objects will be apparent from the description and appended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a perspective view of the device.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary transverse vertical sectional view taken on line 2 2 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken on line 3 3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional detail view taken on line 4 4 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional detail view taken on line 5 5 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional detail view taken on line 6 6 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional detail view of the coin control taken on line 1 1 of Fig. 8.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged front elevation of the coin control and operating mechanism with parts broken away.

Fig. 9 is an enlarged detail view of the electrical control mechanism of the device.

Referring to the drawings, which illustrate the preferred embodiment of the invention, the numeral I0 designates a. suitable casing for the device which is preferably insulated at II. 'I'he casing is provided with an access door I2 provided with a suitable lock. Door I2 preferably extends from adjacent the bottom of one side wall of the casing to a point spaced below the top of the casing, and is located off-center of said side wall.

A frame is mounted within the casing I0 and comprises uprights I3 and horizontal cross bars I4 between 'said uprights. A storage compartment |5 is carried by the frame at the lower part of casing I0. Suitable refrigerating means (not shown) are preferably mounted in casing l0 to render chamber I5 a cooling chamber.

A shaft I6 is mounted centrally between opposite vertical walls of casing I0 and above chamber I5 by members I1 carried by opposite horizontal frame cross bars I8. The bar I8 adjacent the side wall which mounts door I2 is positioned at a higher level than the opposite bar I8, whereby said shaft I6 is downwardly inclined toward the rear of casing I0.-

A reel I9 is journaled on shaft IB. Reel I9 comprises a central drum portion 20, a plurality Aof radial partitions or walls 2| projecting outwardly from said drum in equi-spaced relation and parallel to shaft I6, and an outer Wall 22 of polygonal shape. The drum 2|), Walls 2| and outer wall 22 dene a plurality of elongated, radiially inwardly tapering, rearwardly inclined compartments in the drum, said compartments each being open at both ends and being of a length to receive a. plurality oi bottles therein disposed side-by-side and in alignment. 'I'he bottles 23 receivable in the compartments are preferably provided with a reduced diameter portion 24 intermediate the base and neck thereof. Each of the compartment walls 2| is provided with a longitudinally extending inwardly projecting angle member 25 adjacent to its outer or large dimension end opposite said reduced bottle portion 2l. The inner edges of opposite members 25 are preferably spaced apart a distance less than the diameter of the bottle at the base and greater than y the diameter thereof at portion 23, for purposes to be set forth hereinafter. At the rear of the reel each wall 2| is provided with a pair of radlally spaced narrow elongated cut-outs 26 extending parallel to each other and to shaft I8. Reel I! preferably rotates in clockwise direction (Fig. 2) as viewed from door opening I2.

A plate 21 of substantially the same diameter as reel i9 is positioned in spaced parallel relation to the rear thereof, suitably mounted on the frame and shaft i6 concentric with the reel. Plate 21 is stationary, and serves to hold the bot tles within the inclined reel compartments. 'Ihis plate is provided with an opening 2l therein of substantially the same size and shape as the cross sectional dimension of the bottle receiving compartments; said opening 28 extending in downwardly inclined relation at the right or downward-movement side thereof and of the reel as viewed in Figs. 2 and 5 and arranged to register with the respective compartments as the reel is rotated. A pair of upwardly and forwardly inclined spring pressed fingers 2l are pivoted at I0 to plate 21 just below opening 28; said fingers being positioned to pass through the cut-outs 26 in reel walls 2| with their inner ends spaced forwardly from the plane oi plate 21 and opposite opening 28. An inclined discharge trough 3| is rlxedly carried by plate 21 at the rear thereof and below opening 2l. Trough Il extends through a suitable discharge opening 32 in the casing.

'I'he frame of the device includes a pair of spaced cross guide bars 3l above reel l! transverse of shaft IG, and these bars are provided with curved intermediate portions II substantially concentric with and positioned adjacent to the reel. The curved portions 3,4 slidably mount a shoe 35 provided with suitable escapement means (not shown) engageable with a plurality of circumferentially arranged vanes carried by the outer wall of the reel. A member 31 projects from shoe 35 for connection of a forwardly extending operating cable 28 and a coil spring 39 extending in opposed relation to cable II and connected to the frame. The construction of the guides, shoe, escapement mechanism and associated operating parts are more fully described and illustrated in my copending application, Serial No. 288,100 filed August 3, 1939, and issued March i8, 1941, as Patent No. 2,235,641.

A small housing III projects from the outer uD- per end of the casing in and journals a shaft Il operable by crank I2. Shaft Il mounts a sheave I2 to which the outer end of cable 3l is connected for operation by said crank. A pair of closely spaced parallel plates II are carried by housing Il and extend transversely of and journal shaft Il. A disc I5 is tlxedly mounted on shaft Il between and preferably in engagement with plates II. Disc Il is provided with a coin receiving notch I1 therein having a sharp cornered shoulder Il at one side thereof. Plates II are notched at I9 opposite notch I1, and a locking element Bil is pivoted at 5I to plates II and has a part l2 extending into notches Il and I1 to normally be engaged by shoulder Il of disc Il upon rotation of shaft Il by crank I2. Notch I1 in the disc is of a size to receive a coin 5I which projects slightly above shoulder Il and over which part 52 of member I may run to be pivoted at 5| and th'ereby avoid interlocking engagement with shoulder Il. A suitable coin receiver 5I is mounted in housing Il and feeds coin I3 to a coin chute Il positioned above disc II to discharge the coin into notch I1 of said disc.

A pair of concentric rings and l1 is arranged adjacent the front of reel Il, carried by brackets il secured to the frame, as to front frame member Il (Fig. 3). These rings are arranged adjacent the` inner and outer portions of the bottle compartments of the reel. The rings are preferably sectional, with the sections 59 and 60 located opposite door I2 being secured to said door by brackets 6I and E2, respectively, whereby said sections are shifted away from the reel to fully expose the reel compartments adjacent the door l2 when the door is opened and to be returned to operative position relative to the reel when the door is closed.

The operation of the device is as follows: The reel is filled from the door opening, for which purpose suitable means (not shown) may be provided for releasing the escapement device of the operating mechanism to permit free rotation of the reel. The reel is preferably filled with the bottles stored in cooling chamber I5 which is also accessible through door i2. The bottles are positioned in the reel side-by-side, guided by members 25 positioned opposite the reduced diameter bottle portions 2I. The bottles slide against each other and against plate 21 by virtue of the inclination of the reel and the compartments. Should the device be roughly handled, as by shaking, tilting or the like as frequently occurs where efforts are made to pilfer devices of this type, the bottles will all be retained within the compartments by plate 21 and by rings 56, 59 and 51, 60. Also, upon such rough handling when the compartments are only partially filled, the guides 25 will limit displacement or tilting of the bottles from desired radial position, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3. The guides in the chambers at the upper part of the device also serve to suspend the bottles in their compartments as illustrated in Fig. 6, so that the rough handling cannot tilt or displace the bottles from operative position. It will also be seen that the bottles in the bottom part of the reel which may be tilted, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3. will be righted when the reel compartment reaches uppermost position. Hence bottles are always positioned in proper relation and position in their compartments to be fed when they reach discharge position, and the device can not be jammed, injured, or rendered inoperative by rough handling.

When the customer deposits a coin in coin receiver SI, it passes through chute 55 into notch I1 of disc IS. 'I'his conditions the mechanism for operation by lever I2 which rotates shaft Il, sheave I2 and disc I5. with the lock 5l rendered inoperative by coin 53 over which lock part i2 slides. Rotation of sheave I3 serves to pull cable 3l against the action of spring I9, thereby sliding shoe I5 on guides :II to rotate the reel through the angle between opposite walls 2i of one compartment by engagement of the shoe carried escapement mechanism with one or more of the vanes II. In order to limit this rotation to exact desired extent, each vane Il is of a length substantially equal to the width of the outer portions of the compartments, and suitable stop means i3 are xedly mounted on guides II for engagement by shoe 35. This operative extent of reel rotation is effected by partial rotation of crank I2 and associated parts, incident to which the coin 53 is discharged into a suitable coin box (not shown). Release of the crank permits the parts to return to normal position with the lock 52 again positioned in front of shoulder I8 of disc I! to lock the parts against repeated operation. The vanes Il are so positioned that the shoe and its escapement assegna mechanism do not take a new operating position until the shoe is fully returned, thereby per mitting lock 52 to become set. The escapement mechanism also includes means for preventing spinning oi' the reel.

Referring now particularly to Figs. 4 and 5, the discharging operation of the reel is as follows: The parts are shown in said Figs. 4 and 5 in normal or starting position, `withf'reel movement downward. Hence the outermost bottle 54 in the compartment next above opening 28 is the one which will be discharged upon the next succeeding operation of the reel. Upon said operation, the'rotation of the reelbrings bottle N opposite opening 2l in plate 21 so that said bottle may roll through said opening 28 by virtue of the inclination of its compartment, and pass into trough 3i as illustrated at 65 in Fig. 4. The lingers 2l are positioned to permit such discharge of the outermost bottle, but they project into the compartment in advance of the adjacent bottle in said compartment to prevent -t-he same from following the Ibottle discharged. Upon the next operation of the reel the bottle which was stopped by lingers 29 is shited past said lingers to a position below plate opening 28, so t'hat it will be retained in its compartment by the plate 21 until a complete revolution of the reel occurs, whereupon it is discharged by virtue of its outermost position in its compartment. This mechanism thus enables each bottle compartment to receive and store a plural-ity of bottles, which are discharged one at a time, and Winch are successively fed to discharge position by the inclined position of the compari/ments.

The pivoted mounting of fingers 28 is provided to permit each compartment to be loaded with its full complement of bottles, by pushing the same into parallel-ism with plate 21 when the compartment opposite thereto is loaded, and said lingers are retained in such position during free rotation .of the drum incident to loading. The lingers 21 are released after the loading operation is completed, so that they will assume normal position illustrated in Fig. 4 as soon as the 1li-st operation of the device occurs.

The capacity of the device depends solely .upon the wldt'h of the reel, and both large and small size devices operate upon the same principle of step-by-step reel rotation and gravity feed and discharge. The simplicity of the construction gives the advantages of substantial freedom from requirements for repair and adjustment, and also permits a sturdy construction which will withstand hard usage and rough handling.

The device may also be provided with electricall means for rendering it inoperative when empty, which means is best illustrated in Figs. 4, 8 and 9.v Referring rst to Figs. 4 to 9, the retainer plate 21 is provided with an opening 18 spaced above opening 28 to be positioned adjacent bottle $4 while bottle 65 in the next compartment is being discharged. A bracket 11| is carried by plate 21 above open-ing 1l and pivotally mounts a lever intermediate its ends, with one end 12 of said lever projecting through opening 18 and the other end 13 thereof being heavier and extending substantially horizontally away from plate 21 to terminate adjacent and above a frame T-he lever is so positioned and armember 14. ranged .that when its portion 12 .passing through opening engages a bottle bearing against plate 21, the opposite portion 13 is positioned above frame member 13; whereas said portion 13 falls upon frame member 14 when there is no bottle in the rcel compartment opposite thereto with which portion 12 may' engage.

A bracket 15 is mounted on frame member 1I adjacent the lever portion 13 and pivotally mounts an unbalanced carrier member 16 whose unbalanced end .portion 11 over-.lies and engages the end of lever part 13. Carrier 16 mounts a mercury switch unit comprising a container 'I8 receiving a globule 13 of mercury and having a pair of spaced electrical contacts lll projecting therein ait the end of container 18 correspond-ing to the unbalanced end of carrier 15. Switch member 18 is interposed in an electrical circuit Il which includes a solenoid 82 mounted in housing 4l opposite the coin chute 55, which is preferably pivoted. A coin return 83 is mounted in the housing I0 in laterally off-set relation to the normal position of coin chute, but below the position to which chute 55 is pivoted by the annature of solenoid 32 upon operation of said solenoid. It desired, signal means or the like may also be incorporated in the circuit 8 l.

It w'i-li thus be seen that when `the device is emptied, and there is no bottle in the reel compartment which would normally be shifted into registration with discharge opening 28 upon the succeeding operation, the lever shifts to inoperative position upon frame member 1l thereby permitting carrier 16 to pivot to dotted line position with mercury 19 closing the circuit between contacts 88 and .thereby permittingsolenoid 82 to operate and pivot coin chute 55 to dotted line position. Hence any coin inserted in coin receiver 54 will be returned automatically at coin ret-urn 83, and the device will not feed a coin to coin notch l1 of lock-lng disc l5 until the reel has been reillled.

I claim:

l. A bottle dispensing machine comprising a casing, a reel rotatable in said casing on an inclined axis, said reel having a plurality of axially elongated radial compartments therein each open at its ends and adapted to receive a plurality of radially positioned bottles, a station-ary plate positioned adjacent the lower end of said reel and having an opening therein of a shape complementary to the shape of said compartments and positioned for registration with said compartments upon reel rotation, whereby a. bottle in the registering compartment may roll through said opening; and an inclined discharge trough below said opening and projecting exteriorly of said casing. j

2. A bottle dispensing machine as dened in claim 1, and means in each compartment for maintaining a bottle in operative position therein during rotation of said reel.

3. A bottle dispensing machine as defined in claim 1, wherein said compartments are axially elongated to receive a plurality of bottles positioned radially therein, and stop means carried by said plate adjacent said opening and projecting into the lowermost end portion of the compartment registering with said plate opening above the lowermost bottle therein.

4. A bottle dispensing machine as dened in claim 1, and a stationary retainer adjacent the upwardly positioned end of said reel.

5. A bottle. dispensing machine as deined in claim 1, and a door in said casing adjacent the upwardly positioned end of said reel, and a. retainer carried by said door and normally positioned adjacent the end of said reel.

6. In a. dispensing machine for bottles each having a. reduced diameter portion intermediate its base and neck, a casing, a reel rotatable in said casing on an inclined axis, said reel having a plurality of axially elongated radial compartments, and guide members substantially parallel to the axis oi said reel and projecting into said compartments, said guides being spaced apart less than the diameter of the bases of said bottles and greater than the intermediate reduced diameter portions of said bottles, said guides engaging the reduced diameter portions of said bottles to radially position them in said compartments upon reel rotation and guide sliding thereof to the lower ends of said compartments.

'7. In a dispensing machine for bottles each having a reduced diameter portion intermediate its base and neck, a casing, an inclined reel rotatable in said casing, said reel having a plurality of radial partitions defining elongated radial, inclined, bottle-receiving compartments, and a pair of longitudinally extending opposed elongated guide members carried by the partitions of each compartment and spaced apart-less than the base diameter of a bottle, the reduced diameter intermediate portions of said bottles being slidably receivable between said guides whereby saidguides maintain saidA bottles in substantially radial position relative to said reel.

8. In a dispensing machine, a rotatable bottleholding reel comprising a hub, a plurality of radial partitions projecting radially from said hub in equi-spaced relation and parallel to the axis of the hub, an outer peripheral member carried by the outer ends of said partitions, said partitions and peripheral member defining elongated open-ended radial bottle-receiving compertinents, and elongated members parallel to the hub axis carried by said partitions adjacent the outer ends thereof and projecting into said compartments at opposite sides thereof for engagement with radially' positioned bottles in said compartments adjacent the lower ends thereof.

9. In a dispensing machine, an inclined rotatable reel having a plurality of radial open-ended compartments therein each receiving a plurality of radially positioned bottles and defined by radial partitions, a stationary plate adjacent the lower end of said reel for retaining the bottles in said reel, said plate having a bottle discharging opening with which said compartments are adapted to register, each partition having a cut-out parallel to the axis of the reel adjacent said plate, and a finger carried by said plate below said opening and projecting angularly upwardly therefrom to pass through said cut-outs to retain the uppermost bottles while the lowermost bottle is discharged through said opening.

10. In a dispensing machine, an inclined rotatable reel having a plurality of open-ended, inclined radial compartments therein and each receiving a plurality of bottles, said compartments being slotted at their lower ends, a retainer adjacent the lower end of said reel for retaining said bottles in said compartments and having a discharge opening, and means carried by said retainer and projecting through said slots into the compartment adjacent said opening at a point above the lowermost bottle to retain the remaining bottles while the compartment Aregisters with said opening.

11. The combination defined in claim 10, wherein said last named means is pivoted to said retainer for positioning across said opening while said reel is being filled.

i2. In a dispensing machine, a reel rotatable on an inclined axis and having a plurality of radial compartments therein, means for retaining articles in said compartments, said last namedmeans having a discharge opening therein, and means in each compartment for guiding sliding movement of said articles longitudinally in said compartments by gravity, said last named means maintaining said articles in predetermined angular relation to said compartments incident to ro tation of said reel.

13. A bottle dispensing machine comprising a casing, a bottle carrier rotatable in said casing on an inclined axis, said carrier having a plurality of axially elongated open ended compartments each adapted to receive and substantially radially position a plurality of bottles therein, said compartments having means whereby the bottles are guided in their respective compartments for shifting in axial direction only, a retainer adjacent the lower end of said carrier for normally retaining bottles in said compartments and having a discharge opening with which said compartments successively register.

CHARLES C. KUHL. 

